The Changing Moral Dimension of Strategy.

摘要

The interaction of strategy, war, and national values has proved to be a confusing phenomenon for the western democracies since the end of World War II. Technologically and organizationally oriented, western powers have tended to focus their planning largely on the mechanics of projecting military forces abroad in support of national interests, neglecting to consider certain cultural factors which have had a powerful impact on the success of some policies. This neglect of what Clausewitz called the moral dimension of strategy reflects a historical perspective on the philosphy of war which has lead American planners especially to misperceive the itimate relationship between war and politics which Clausewitz, and now Marxist societies in general applying his insights, understand well. The American political system tends to support the notion that there should be a high degree of autonomy in the pursuit of military objectives, and in general tends to reject any requirement to link military goals with national values. The processes by which national values are formed however, lie so deeply embedded in the development of human personality that these values have peculiar power and impact on the formation of public opinion. Global strategies of the United States will be successful in gaining public support only to the degree that their objectives are perceived as congruent with the democratic values held by the public.